Chalkboard frame tutorial

This is a ridiculously easy thing to do and ANYONE can do it - from children to the elderly! :)

What you need:
Wooden frames (.$98 at Wal-Mart!)
Chalkboard paint ($3.47 at Wal-Mart)
Paintbrush
Chalk
A dose of creativity

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First, gather all your materials together.

And then.... paint your frames with the chalkboard paint

Now wait! Let the first coat sit for at least an hour and then add a second coat and let sit overnight. You can add a third coat if you'd like.

'Cure' the frames when they are finally dry by laying the chalk on its side and covering the frames. Erase, and you are ready to start decorating!!

Ring holder box tutorial

I'm sure I'm not alone with keeping my rings in a little box without them being held by anything. I don't really have enough rings to buy a jewelry box (or enough money!) so I figured I'd make my own and I did...for under 2 dollars and it was extremely easy!

What you need:

A foam box (I got mine on clearance at Hobby Lobby for a dollar)

X-acto knife

Tape measure

Rings!

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This is NOT recommended for little kids. Using an x-acto knife can be dangerous and result in injury.

First you get the box and all of the tools you need together. The box I got was 4x4" so there is room inside for whatever you need it for! I'm going to use mine for bobbypins and hair clips. :)

And then measure the width of the ring and cut at least a 1/2 cm bigger than the ring in the spaces that you want your rings to fit in. I recommend marking it with a pencil so they are even before cutting into the foam. The cuts don't have to be perfect aligned with each other due to the height and width of some rings (plus it makes it look cooler)

My cuts are a little sloppy because I didn't mark them with a pencil to make sure they were even (which is why I recommended it in the before step)

But in the end it looked fabulous! And it's functional so that's even better.

To Do:

This has been a crazy week of overtime at work, mega migraines and a LOT of sleep (I don't know why!) so therefore I haven't got anything accomplished craft wise but I have a lot on my to do list. ESPECIALLY when it comes to christmas presents

So here goes..

*Sugar scrub +tutorial for my mom
*Bath salts +tutorial
*Candles +tutorial
*Fudge +tutorial
*Washer necklaces +tutorial
*Christmas jewelry

......

Looks like I have a lot on my plate for the next 3 weeks.

Frame earring holder tutorial

This weekend I made a few earring holders out of cheap dollar tree frames and it was a blast and turned out great so I figured I'd do my first tutorial!

This project is also very good for you if you're like me and don't have a lot of money and like to upcycle. I spent about 6 dollars in all. Most of the items I had laying around the house!

What you need:
Wooden frames from a dollar store. (I got mine for a dollar each)
Window screen mesh
Staple gun
Scissors
Tacky glue or any glue suitable for fabrics and wood
Fabric
Twine or any type of sturdy cord
Hanging hooks or jumbo push pins

Optional:
Acrylic paint for the hanging hooks (to make them prettier!)

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First, take the glass and back of the frame off and set aside (I should be doing a tutorial on what to make out of them later) so that you just have the frame part. 

Take the window mesh and line it up with the frame and staple it on the BACK of the frame and then cut to make even like so.

(This is what it should look like from the back)

(This is what it should look like from the front)

Next, pick out your fabric (the possibilities are endless!) and add tacky glue around the edges of the back of the frame

I picked out pink, white and black to match my current colors of my jewelry organizer.

(This is what it should look like after the tacky glue is applied)

Next, press the fabric on the back side and let dry like so;

While that is drying, you can do what I did and paint the hooks.

This is pretty self explanatory. All you need is the paint color of your choice, a paintbrush, some water and the hooks. (I got command damage-free hooks for 2 bucks at my grocery store)

And this is how they turned out!

Pretty neat, huh?

Once the glue dries (I waited a good 2 hours) you should be able to cut the fabric and start to add the finishing touches!

For the hanging part I glued hemp braiding cord to the fabric and sandwiched it in with another piece of fabric (who's gonna look at the back anyways?)

Now as this was drying, I cut a few pieces of fabric for an extra type of earring holder for my hoop earrings and corner glued it onto the frames.

When the frame is done it should look like this!

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All in all I made 3 frames. 2 for dangling earrings and 1 for my post earrings. The post earring holder omits needing the braiding cord and hanging hooks. It sits on my nightstand leaned up against the wall.

This is the post earring holder. The zebra print box on the bottom of it is holding all the backs for my dangling earrings and is a very cute add on!

As you can see in the first picture, the white corner piece of fabric holds my hoop earrings. Very easy to glue it on and convenient too! 

Please comment and tell me what you think! Feedback is very much appreciated :) 

Post thanksgiving

Well the madness of Thanksgiving is over. Thank goodness! I do love the time spent with family but sheesh it is exhausting! 

When I woke up Thursday morning I checked on my homemade pendants from the night before. Granted, these are FAR from finished...but this is how they turned out after sitting for about 8 hours. I'm slightly disappointed that the one with the shells is lopsided (no idea how it got that way) but I can always re-do it! I plan on waiting for the cloudiness to disappear (I read that it can take a few days) and then file the paper down so it's even and add some finishing touches and then the final pictures will be up. 

Who knows...maybe I will get good enough at this that I'll start selling them. ;)

In other news I have some more craft plans for this weekend. They include finishing a few earring holders, and some more recycled jewelry! I'm very excited so stay tuned!!

First blog post!

So here I am, 2 in the morning, and I decide to start a blog. Not out of the ordinary at all...I mean my best work does come late at night anyways! I've done a lot of crafts and a LOT of baking in my loads of free time lately (thank you non production days at work!) and I really have nothing to show for it except to say "hey guys I baked a crap ton of cookies tonight!" on my facebook page so a blog was in my best interest.

I was a busy, busy gal tonight. Started off by baking a good 3 dozen cookies (except...I cheated and made break and bakes) and 7 loaves of pumpkin bread (all from scratch!) for thanksgiving. The cookies of course turned out amazing and the bread even BETTER! Man, I sure do know how to whip up a good batch of bread. :) I guess the culinary training paid off.

After this I think it's a good idea to start a project I found on www.megacrafty.com with some toilet paper rolls I had saved. The project is making jewelry pendants out of them, cardstock and dimensional magic. Really fun and VERY cheap to do!! The dimensional magic is all I had to buy and that was $5.47 at hobby lobby ($3.29 after my 40% off coupon was applied)..everything else is pretty much on hand!

Right now I'm waiting for the dimensional magic to dry and then I will post pictures and tell how they turned out. 

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately and have turned my interest toward recycled jewelry...I'm very excited on sharing some ideas I have in the future! And don't worry, if it's not an idea someone else has come up with..I will be posting tutorials on how to make them!